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RECONSTRUCTION. 


SPEECH 

OF 

HON. GEORGE F. MILLER, OF PENNSYLVANIA, 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 19, 1867. 


The House having under consideration the bill 
(H. R. No. 543) to provide for restoring the States 
lately in insurrection to their full political rights— 

Mr. MILLER said: 

Mr. Speaker : The bill under consideration 
is one of vast importance, and demands the 
serious consideration of this House. Eleven 
of the States of this Union having rebelled, to 
wit: Tennessee, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, 
Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia, 
claimed to have seceded and attempted to set 
up a new government for themselves, to be 
called the “confederate States America,” 
after four years of terrible and bloody con¬ 
flict, such as no nation ever before witnessed, 
one of the most gigantic rebellions ever inau¬ 
gurated was subdued by force of arms, and the 
life of this Republic, though not yet a century 
old, saved from ruin. During our struggle the 
monarchical Governments of Europe, save that 
of Russia, were, as it seemed, desirous for our 
downfall, and some of them even boasted 
through their public journals that a repub¬ 
lican form of government was a failure. They 
looked back upon the ancient republics, which 
flourished for a while, but finally crumbled 
into ruin, and on their foundations were reared 
the most tyrannical Governments, with a lively 
hope that our fate would be no better. 

But thanks be to Him who rules the desti¬ 
nies of nations that we had at the head of our 
Republic a President in the person of Abra¬ 
ham Lincoln, who was destined for the great 
work of saving the country from the grasp of 
designing demagogues. He was the choice, 
and I might add the idol of a free people, 
and around his administration the true, loyal 
patriots of the country rallied. After the tri¬ 
umphant reelection of Mr. Lincoln and sur¬ 
render of the rebel forces, the next great ques¬ 
tion to solve was how to reconstruct the eleven 


States lately in rebellion so as to insure a per¬ 
manent peace. But before this work was fully 
entered upon Mr. Lincoln was assassinated, to 
wit: on the night of the 14th of April, 1865, 
by a foul wretch of the name of John Wilkes 
Booth, and of the wounds inflicted died the 
next day at twenty-two minutes past seven 
o’clock a. m. This was a sad event for the 
nation; his death was mourned by all the loyal 
people of the land; and the only consolation 
for this bereavement was the loud professions 
of Andrew Johnson, who, being placed on the 
same ticket with Mr. Lincoln, was elected Vice 
President of the United States; and on the day 
of Mr. Lincoln’s death, after taking the requisite 
oath administered by the Chief Justice, took 
the presidential chair. It was then hoped and 
believed that he would follow ip the footsteps 
of his illustrious predecessor. 

Immediately after the organization of the 
Thirty-Ninth Congress there was appointed a 
committee of fifteen, nine on the part of the 
House and six from the Senate, denominated 
a Committee on Reconstruction. This com¬ 
mittee after several months’ labor, having 
made a thorough investigation as to the status 
of the late rebellions States, made a report 
recommending certain amendments to the Con¬ 
stitution of the United States, to be called ar¬ 
ticle fourteenth, which, after undergoing some 
modification, passed both Houses of Congress 
by more than a two-third vote. Said article is 
divided into five sections, which are as follows : 

Sec. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the Uni¬ 
ted States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, 
are citizens of the United States and of the State 
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce 
any law which shall abridge the privileges or immu¬ 
nities of citizens of the United States: nor shall any 
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny to any person 
within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the 
laws. 

Sec. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among 
the several States according to their respective num- 











bers, counting the whole number of persons in each 
State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice of electors 
for President and Vice President of the United 
States, representatives in Congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the 
Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male in¬ 
habitants of such State, being twenty-one years of 
age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way 
abridged, except for participation in rebellion or 
other crime, the basis of representation therein shall 
be reduced in the proportion which the number of 
such male citizens shall bear to the whole number 
of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State. 

Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or Repre¬ 
sentative in Congross, or elector of President and 
Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State, who 
having previously taken an oath as a member of Con¬ 
gress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a 
member of any State Legislature, or as an executive 
or judicial officer of any State, to support the Consti¬ 
tution of the United States, shall iiavo engaged in 
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given 
aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress 
may, by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove 
such disability. 

Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of the Uni¬ 
ted States, authorized by law, including debts in¬ 
curred for payment of pensions and bounties for ser¬ 
vices in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall 
not be questioned. But neither the United States 
nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obli¬ 
gation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion 
against the United States, or any claim for the loss 
or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, 
obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. 5. That Congress shall have power to enforce, 
by appropriate legislation, tho provisions of this 
article. 

This amendment having been submitted to 
the respective States for their action thereon 
Tennessee, one of the late so-called rebel States, 
promptly ratified the same through her Legisla¬ 
ture, and was immediately after admitted to 
representation in Congress, thus leaving ten of 
the rebellious States unrepresented. 

I will now, Mr. Speaker, consider some of 
the features of the bill under consideration. 
The original was reported by Mr. Stevens, 
from the joint Committee on Reconstruction, 
on the 20th of April, I860, embracing two sec¬ 
tions, to which the same gentleman, on the 
19th of December following presented an 
amendment embracing eight sections ; and on 
the 16th of January, 1807, he presented to the 
House a modified amendment embracing eleven 
sections. On the same day Mr. Ashley, of 
Ohio, chairman of the Committee on the Terri¬ 
tories, presented what he denominated a mod¬ 
ified amendment embracing eighteen sections. 
The first section of the original bill provides 
that when the constitutional amendment shall 
have become part of the Constitution of the 
United States, and any State lately in insur¬ 
rection shall have ratified the same and shall 
have modified its constitution and laws in con¬ 
formity therewith, the Senators and Repre¬ 
sentatives of such State, if duly elected and 
qualified, may, after having taken the required 
oath, be admitted into Congress; and the 
second section allows time to such States for 
payment of direct tax under the act of August 
5,1861. These sections presupposed of course 


the speedy adoption of the constitutional amend¬ 
ment. 

The amended bill is more stringent in its 
terms. Considerable fault is found with the 
second section even by some of the Republi¬ 
cans, and especially by the ardent gentleman 
from Wisconsin, [Mr. Paine,] upon the ground 
that it acknowledges as valid for merely muni¬ 
cipal purposes the present State governments 
until legislative and executive officers shall be 
recognized. I cannot see in that section any¬ 
thing to bring forth so much opposition ; it 
parts with no rights, nor does it acknowledge 
the validity of the governments formed in those 
States, except for the purpose therein con¬ 
tained. The third, fourth, and fifth sections 
prescribe the mode of forming constitutions in 
the said ten States. The remaining sections 
direct who shall vote in forming constitu¬ 
tions in those States. There may be some 
doubt with regard to Congress having the 
power to determine who shall exercise the 
elective franchise if they still retain their status 
as States, but in my opinion there is serious 
objection to what is contained in the sixth sec¬ 
tion, which declares that a certain class of 
persons engaged in the late< rebellion have for¬ 
feited their citizenship and renounced their 
allegiance to the United States, and in order 
to be reinstated must first file their petitions 
for naturalization, and five years thereafter 
may on taking the prescribed oath be restored. 

1 contend, Mr. Speaker, that no rebellions 
act on the part of the rebels could dissolve their 
allegiance to the Government of the United 
States, and consequently they are amenable to 
its laws and can be tried and punished for their 
treason, and moreover they could be drafted 
and forced to serve in our armies notwithstand¬ 
ing they might claim to have seceded. In 3 
Dallas, 153, Talbot vs. Janson, it is laid down 
by the Supreme Court of the United States 
that even if expatriation exists under our Con¬ 
stitution and laws there must not only be a 
renunciation of citizenship of the United Stat es, 
but the actual removal for some lawful pur¬ 
pose ; in the same case, on page 153, Justice 
Patterson, who delivered the opinion of the 
Court, says: 

“Itis an obvious principle that an act of illegality 
can never be construed into an act of emigration or 
expatriation. At that rate, treason and emigration 
or treason and expatriation would in certain cases 
be synonymous.” 

Hence it will be seen that no citizen, while 
remaining within the United States, can ab¬ 
solve his allegiance, consequently this sec¬ 
tion could not be sustained; yet I have no 
doubt that laws may be passed depriving those 
engaged in the rebellion of certain political 
rights. The modified amendment makes some 
change as to the time of holding the election 
of delegates to meet in convention to lorm a 
constitution and the mode of appointing cora- 



W*at» Htefc. Scmv 









3 


missioners who shall direct the mode of select¬ 
ing the election officers for the several districts ; 
in other respects the main features are the 
same as that of the amended bill. 

The modified bill of Mr. Ashley differs con¬ 
siderably from that of my colleague, [Mr. Ste¬ 
vens,] though, as I view it, it is more compli¬ 
cated, and it will be more difficult to carry out 
its provisions. The fourteenth section pro- 
. vides that the constitutional convention, when 
assembled and organized, may divide the State 
of Texas into two States, and that said con¬ 
vention shall first cede a part of the territory 
to the United States. I doubt very much 
whether this extraordinary power could be 
carried out by this mode of procedure, at least 
it would be a very doubtful undertaking, and 
such as I do not think Congress would feel 
justified in adopting. Upon the whole I am 
of opinion that my colleague’s [Mr. Stevens] 
bill is preferable to that of the honorable gen¬ 
tleman from Ohio if somewhat modified, which 
could be best accomplished by reference to a 
committee; and as the Committee on Recon¬ 
struction is composed of members from each 
House it would be the appropriate committee 
to refer it to, and'I am therefore in favor of 
such reference. The reconstruction of these 
States is a very grave question, and ought not 
be passed over too hastily. 

The learned gentleman from Ohio [Mr. 
Bingham] attacks the bill of my colleague [Mr. 
Stevens] with considerable severity. He says 
in his able speech : 

“The gentleman’s [Mr. Stevens’s] bill, whilo it 
conflicts witli the constitutional amendment, totally 
ignores the first duty of' the Congress of the United 
States to give the protection of law to life and prop- 
erty in the disorganized States.’’ 

He also says that— 

“The bill and the gentleman’s [Mr. Stevens’s] 
hypothesis would operate as a general jail delivery.’’ 

I cannot see how the bill referred to ‘'would 
operate as a general jail delivery.” If its 
provisions are in conformity with the Consti¬ 
tution and could be carried out, the rebels 
might find a jail without a delivery, and I am 
inclined to believe that the fears of the learned 
gentleman on that point are more imaginary 
than real; nor do 1 understand Mr. Stevens to 
be opposed to the constitutional amendment, 
for I understood him to say when I gave notice 
that at the proper time I would offer the follow- j 
ing section to the bill, to wit: 

Arid be it further enacted. That no such State shall I 
be admitted to a representation in Congress until it j 
also ratifies the amendment to the Constitution of j 
the United States which has been proposed by two ! 
thirds of both Houses of the Thirty-Ninth Congress 
and submitted to the respective States for ratifica¬ 
tion— 

that he had no objection to this section being 
added. Much has been said, Mr. Speaker, by 
members oii this lloor as to the status of these j 
late rebellious States; some have contended 
/ that they are to be treated as conquerod prov- I 


inces, and of course be subject to the will of 
the conqueror. Of this, which I deem a very 
dangerous doctrine, I had occasion to remark 
in a speech delivered in this Hall on the 21st 
of April last, that by assuming that position 
we might make ourselves liable for at least so 
much of the rebel debt as is held bona fide by 
outside parties, and it is said that about five 
hundred millions of the bonds are held by per¬ 
sons in Europe. 

By the law of nations the conqueror of a 
province is entitled to the public domain and 
is bound to pay its debts previously contracted. 
As this is such a universal rule it does not 
require authorities to substantiate it; I will, 
however, cite one, which will be found in 
Wheaton’s Elementary International Law, third 
edition, page 63, in which it is laid down : 

“As to public debts, whether duo to or from the 
revolutionized State, a mere change in the form of 
government or in the person of the ruler does not 
affect their obligation. The essential form of the 
State, that which constitutes it an independent com¬ 
munity, remains the same; its accidental form only 
is changed. The debts being contracted in the name 
of the State, by its authorized agents, for its public 
use. the nation continues liable to them, notwith¬ 
standing the change in its internal constitution. 
The new government succeeds to the fiscal rights 
and is bound to fulfill the fiscal obligations of the 
former government. It becomes entitled to the pub¬ 
lic domain and other property of the State, and is 
bound to pay its debts previously contracted.” 

Now, sir, we cannot afford to speculate upon 
such a theory, nor is there any occasion for 
assuming such a dangerous position. On this 
point I maintain the same views that I ex¬ 
pressed during the first session of this Congress, 
to wit: that no act on the part of the rebels 
could take a State out of the Union ; that their 
attempt to do so was frustrated by the force 
of arms, and that they still remained a part 
and parcel of the United States; and that all 
their acts and decrees, so far as regards the 
United States, were an absolute nullity. 

I think I am safe in saying that there are 
but few who maintain the doctrine that the 
rebel States are in the position of conquered 
provinces. There are others who contend that 
they lost their status as States and are to be 
treated as Territories, and are again to be admit¬ 
ted as if they never had been States. This, I 
think, is a^inistake, for I do not well see how 
the rebellion could bring about this funda¬ 
mental change. It is true that they may have, by 
their acts, in effect abrogated their corporate 
powers, or, in other words, suspended the same 
and thus placed themselves for a time without 
a protective State government, in which case 
that injunction of the Constitution of the United 
States must be invoked, which in the fourth 
section of the fourth article thereof declares 
that— 

“ The United States shall guaranty to e^ery State 
in this Union a republican form of government.” 

And these very words of the Constitution 
plainly indicate that when a State is once ad- 















4 


mitted into this Union it must remain a State, 
and that a majority therein cannot change its 
government from that of a republican form. 
The minority, let it be ever so small, is entitled 
to the protection of the United States, and 
consequently it is a great mistake to suppose 
that they forfeit their rights because a majority 
in a State may rebel. In this view I am sus¬ 
tained by an able writer on the laws of nations; 
for in Yattel’s Law of Nations, page 6, it is 
laid down that— 

“If a nation is obliged to preserve itself, it is no 
less obliged carefully to preserve all its members. 
The nation owes this to itself, since the loss even of 
one of its members weakens it and is injurious to its 
preservation. It owes this also to the members in 
particular, in consequence of the very act of associa¬ 
tion ; for those who compose a nation are united for 
their defense and common advantage; and no one 
can justly be deprived of this union and the advan¬ 
tages he expects to derive from it while he on his 
side fulfills the conditions.” 

And the same author adds that— 

“The body of a nation cannot then abandon a 
province, a town, or even a single individual, who is 
a part of it, unless compelled to it by necessity, or 
indispensibly obliged to it by the stringent reasons 
founded on the public safety.” 

In all our congressional proceedings we have 
denominated them as States, and I do not see, 
Mr. Speaker, what is to be gained by the terri¬ 
torial doctrine in regard to those States, even 
if it was tenable, for we have the full power to 
so reconstruct them as to protect the loyal peo¬ 
ple resident therein, and that there are such no 
one doubts. But recently four million human 
beings who were held in abject slavery have 
been emancipated, who are said to be loyal to 
the Government, and it is our duty to see that 
they are properly protected. But suppose we 
should undertake to establish the doctrine that 
the late rebel States, except Tennessee, are to 
be considered as Territories : what better posi¬ 
tion would we be placed in? For when they 
would present a constitution framed to meet 
the approval of Congress they would be ad¬ 
mitted, and in fact to accomplish that they 
might readily agree to almost any terms in 
order to obtain admission and representation, 
and, this having been accomplished, I would 
ask, sir, what could prevent thepi from calling 
a convention and changing their constitution 
in®hny way they may see fit, provided it is not 
incompatible with that of the United States, 
and I might also ask what protection would 
the loyal people in those States then have ? 

But it is said the civil laws in those States 
are not sufficient to afford ample protection ; I 
would say then, sir, extend the laws of the 
United States over those States in such a 
manner as to give proper protection; and if 
that is not sufficient then suspend the writ of 
habeas corpus and let them be governed by 
martial law until they shall have learned to 
respect the civil law. But I may be asked if 
the adoption of a proper constitution in those 
States is not a sufficient guarantee against 


future innovations, what is? My response is 
the adoption of the constitutional amendment, 
which I believe to be the bulwark of our lib¬ 
erty and a complete barrier against any other 
rebellion. And now, sir, permit me for a 
few minutes to examine the features of that 
amendment. The first section thereof makes 
all persons born or naturalized in the United 
States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof 
citizens, and also prohibits any State from 
making or enforcing any law which shall 
abridge the rights of citizens, &e. This is in 
effect ingrafting the civil rights bill and afford¬ 
ing to all adequate protection, which is so just 
that I cannot see how any objection can be 
seriously interposed, unless it is by those whose 
consciences have been seared with the rebel 
doctrine that “a negro has no rights which a 
white man is bound to respect.” This section 
however will relieve those persons who enter¬ 
tain that doctrine. 

The second section provides that if any male 
citizens of the United States, being twenty-one 
years of age, shall be deprived of the right of 
voting, except for participation in the rebel¬ 
lion, representation shall be reduced in pro¬ 
portion. This applies to all the States in the 
Union, but may more materially affect the late 
slave States. Under the Constitution of the 
United States, adopted by the Convention on 
the 17th day of September, 1787, and ratified 
by the States in 1789, in the representation the 
whole number of free persons, including those 
bound for service for a term of years, and ex¬ 
cluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all 
others were counted, and now as slavery is 
abolished the other two fifths would be counted, 
thus giving the late slave States a represent¬ 
ation for all the colored men without extending 
to them the elective franchise, which would be 
then about thirty-seven members of Congress 
for an unvoting population, while on the 
other hand the other States are confined to 
the voters, consequently making, in effect, the 
vote of one white man in the South equal to 
about three in the North. It must be borne 
in mind that this amendment is intended for 
all the States of the Union, and leaves each to 
decide for itself as to negro suffrage; but if 
the black man is deprived of that right he is 
not to be counted in the representation. Is 
not this just? 

The third section prohibits any person from 
being a Senator or Representative in Con¬ 
gress, or elector of President and Vice Pres¬ 
ident, and from holding any office ,' civil or 
military, under the United States or any State, 
who had previously taken an oath as member 
of Congress or as an officer of the United States 
or of any State to support the Constitution of 
the United States and afterward engaged in the 
rebellion; with a proviso that Congress may, 
by a vote of two thirds of each House, remove 
this disability. This, I presume, is the main 






feature to which the leading rebels object, as 
they seem extremely anxious to be in a position 
to make and administer laws for the loyal peo¬ 
ple of the country. They ought to be thank¬ 
ful that they are permitted to enjoy the ben¬ 
efits of the Government they exerted themselves 
to overthrow. This section only puts them 
upon their good behavior, and if any future 
Congress sees evidence of true repentance and 
return to loyalty they may, by a two-thirds 
vote, remove the barrier. But in the mean 
time these persons must understand that in 
Government affairs they must take a back 
seat. 

The fourth section affirms the validity of the 
debt of the United States, including debts in¬ 
curred for payment of pensions and bounties 
for services in suppressing insurrection or 
rebellion, and declares that neither the Uni¬ 
ted States nor any State shall asssume or 
pay any obligation against the United States 
or any claims for the loss or emancipation of 
any slaves, but that all such obligations shall 
be illegal and void. This is a very important 
section to the tax-payers of the country. As 
far as I have been able to ascertain the rebel 
debt, including the $500,000,000 held in Eu¬ 
rope, is not less than $2,500,000,000; besides 
this the slaveholders assert that they will make 
claim for their emancipated slaves, which are 
in number say four millions. Now, counting 
these at $300 each, we would have $1,200,- 
000,000 more, and this being added to the rebel 
debt, would make $3,700,000,000. 

Now, supposing that the constitutional 
amendment should be abandoned, how would 
we stand with regard to this enormous claim ? 
The insurrectionary States being restored to 
representation their representatives, together 
with their northern sympathizers, would no 
doubt favor the assumption of the same by 
the United States, an attempt to do which 
might succeed with the influence that might 
be brought to bear on some future Congress, 
both at home and from abroad, for it is not 
supposable that foreigners owning such a large 
amount as $500,000,000 of the rebel debt 
would be passive on such an occasion, and 
especially if we should be so unfortunate as 
to elect a southern man for President. If this 
enormous sum should be assumed and added 
to our own debt what would become of us? 
When and how could it be paid? Would it 
not reduce the nation to bankruptcy or at 
least tax the people beyond endurance? Then 
the people would see the importance of the 
policy of the majority of the present Congress. 
But how can this catastrophe be averted? My* 
answer again is by the adoption of the consti¬ 
tutional amendment, and then to change it there 
will be required two thirds of both Houses of 
Congress and three fourths of the States, which 
it is not likely can ever be obtained. Then may 
the country feel safe, having a sure guarantee. 


But it is said that none of the ten insurrec¬ 
tionary States will ratify it; then let them do 
without representation; we did without their 
help in our struggle to maintain our nation¬ 
ality, and now as that struggle is over we can 
still get along without mem; they left these 
Halls with their ^)wn accord to inaugurate a 
rebellion and they shall not return without the 
approval of Congress. This amendment is 
such a guarantee as we have a right to de¬ 
mand, and I assert, Mr. Speaker, that so long 
as I am honored with a seat on this floor I will 
never vote for the admission of Representa¬ 
tives from those States until the constitutional 
amendment is first ratified, in which they must 
participate. 

The next and last section gives power to 
Congress to enforce by appropriate legislation 
the provisions of this article. 

President Johnson seems very anxious for 
these insurrectionary States to have representa¬ 
tion in Congress without any precedent condi¬ 
tion whatever, notwithstanding the overwhelm¬ 
ing verdict of the loyal people as expressed 
through the ballot-box at the recent elections. 
In his last annual message he says: 

“ Ten States, more than one fourth of the wholo 
number, remain without representation; the seats of 
fifty members in the House of Representatives and 
of twenty members of the Senate are yet vacant, not 
by their own consent, not by failure of election, but 
by the refusal of Congress to accept their creden¬ 
tials.” 

And he talks about taxation without repre¬ 
sentation, and also says that those States so 
modified their laws as to repudiate the rebel 
debt. 

Now, sir, why ought those States be allowed 
representatives in Congress to take part in re¬ 
construction? Is it likely that they would vote 
for any restriction ? And who ever heard of a 
judge or juryman sitting in the trial of his own 
cause? And yet the President asks that these 
men shall be admitted at once without any 
guarantee whatever for future security against 
the inauguration of another rebellion. He tells 
us that if they should after admission prove 
disloyal they may be expelled; but I would ask 
how could tkqj^be accomplished? The Con¬ 
stitution requires the concurrence of two thirds 
to expel a member, and if such representatives 
were admitted it is not probable that they would 
vote for their own expulsion, and by their voting 
against such procedure, as a matter of course, 
a disloyal member would be permitted to retain 
his seat and thus thwart the action qf Congress. 
As to the changing of the laws, 1 look upon that 
alone as no security, for how easy it is for them 
to change back again and make them even more 
obnoxious than they were before. 

We are told, Mr. Speaker, that our proceed¬ 
ings, without representation from those States, 
are invalid ; if that is correct then all laws passed 
to suppress the rebellion, and also the large 
debt of $3,000,000,000 incurred to defray the 













6 


expenses are null and void. Will any man con¬ 
tend that the laws so enacted and debt created 
are of no effect? Surely no loyal man will pro¬ 
mulgate such doctrine. But if it was necessary 
for those States to participate, then President 
Johnson is not a legal President, for when he 
was elected those Stated wer^not allowed rep¬ 
resentation nor permitted to take part in the 
election of a President and Vice President, 
and therefore if the present Congress is an ille¬ 
gal body it follows as a corollary that he is an 
illegal President. It is not necessary, however, 
Mr. Speaker, to spend time on such an absurd 
proposition, and 1 may be permitted to say here 
that I am sorry that the President of the United 
States in his journey to the city of Chicago and 
back made use of such language as is attributed 
to him in his speeches. It would have been bet¬ 
ter, far better, for him and the country if he had 
been more guarded in his expressions. Mr. 
Speaker, the Republican members of this 
House are anxious for the restoration of the 
ten States lately in rebellion, and I might add 
as much so as the President is, with this dif¬ 
ference, that he is in favor of admitting them 
withoutterms, and Congress, on the other hand, 
requires substantial security for the preserva¬ 
tion of the country. 

Had the life of the lamented Lincoln been 
spared, or had hissuccessor, President Johnson, 
cooperated with Congress, reconstruction would j 
ere this have been consummated and the States i 
represented in the councils of the nation ; but, 1 
as it is, Congress has this arduous duty to ! 
perform with the opposition of the President, ; 
backed by his mighty patronage, which has been I 
used against the party that elevated him to the 
Vice Presidency, by which, on the death of Mr. 
Lincoln, he was enabled to step into the presi¬ 
dential chair. Mr. Speaker, counting the insur¬ 
rectionary States, we have thirty-six, and if it 
requires three fourths of them to ratify the 
amendment twenty-seven States will be re- j 
quired. The fifth article of the Constitution 
of the United States prescribes that— 

“The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses 
shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to 
this Constitution, or, on the application of the Legis¬ 
latures of two thirds of the several States, shall call ; 
a convention for proposing amendments, which, in J 
either case, shall be valid, to all intents and purposes j 
as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the j 
Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or i 
by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one i 
or the other mode of ratification may bo proposed by j 
the Congress.” 

Of the twenty-six States all except Dela¬ 
ware, Kentucky, and Maryland have elected 
Republican Legislatures, who were pledged for 
the ratification of the amendment; and those 
* of them that have not already ratified it will 
do so shortly. But in addition to these twenty- 
three States four more will be required pro¬ 
vided three fourths of the whole number are 
necessary. It is, however, contended by some 
able lawyers on this floor that it is not acces¬ 


sary to include these ten unrepresented States r 
and if that position is tenable, then but three 
fourths of the twenty-six States would be re¬ 
quired, to wit, twenty, and upon that hypothesis 
we have pledged three more States than are 
sufficient to accomplish this desjrable object. 
But, as I stated on a former occasion in this Hall 
in regard to the constitutional amendment abol¬ 
ishing slavery, it is a question too important to 
theorize upon, as there is no telling what the 
Supreme Court of the United States, as now 
or shall hereafter be constituted, may decide 
in regard to the status of these ten insurrec¬ 
tionary States; and these apprehensions are 
fully illustrated in the recent decision of that 
court in the Milligan case—a decision which, 
if not already, will, in my opinion, be more 
obnoxious than that of the “Dred Scott.” 

Unfortunately, our courts of error do not 
keep pace with the progress of the age, for, 
instead of looking forward and framing their 
decisions consonant to the times and circum¬ 
stances in which we live, they are too apt to 
turn their attention back in search of some 
stale precedents of the dark ages. I do not, 
Mr. Speaker, on this occasion intend to discuss 
the merits of the decision in the Milligan case; 
but trust that that high judicial tribunal may 
realize the importance of not keeping too far 
in rear of the other branches of our Govern¬ 
ment. The honorable gentleman from Ohio 
[Mr. Bingham] says: 

“Let the amendment be ratified by three fourths 
of the organized and represented States, and it is in 
vain that conspirators and aiders of rebellion will 
appeal to the Supreme Court to relieve them from 
the righteous and just provisions of the decree of the 
people.” 

The same gentleman in his speech says also: 

“ If, therefore, gentlemen are at all apprehensive 
of any wrongful intervention of the Supreme Court in 
this behalf, sweep away at once their appellate juris¬ 
diction in all cases, and leave the tribunal without 
even a color or appearance of authority for their 
wrongful intervention.” 

It is in vain, Mr. Speaker, for us to specu¬ 
late with regard to what “conspirators and 
aiders of rebellion” will do, for they will stop 
at nothing that has a tendency to thwart the 
action of Congress or oppose the rights of the 
loyal people of the country; and suppose we 
should “sweep away the appellate jurisdic- 
diction” of the Supreme Court, how soon 
would it be restored in case the Opposition 
should obtain a majority, or in case it should 
be deemed by any future Congress that it was 
inexpedient to take away such jurisdiction? 
And how would we then stand ? 

Mr. Speaker, we must look at these grave 
questions coolly and with deliberation, and not 
be too sanguine with regard to’ untried theo¬ 
ries ; and as we are now vested with power to 
place our Government upon a sure basis be¬ 
yond cavil it is our duty to do so, and not to 
admit to representation in Congress any of 
these ten late insurrectionary States that per- 









sistin the rejection of the constitutional amend¬ 
ment. I repeat, sir, that it is not the desire 
of the great Republican party to retard the 
restoration of those ten States to full polit¬ 
ical rights, but on the contrary they are anx¬ 
ious for a speedy adjustment, in order to secure 
adequate protection to all classes and condi¬ 
tions of men residing therein, and at the same 
time afford ample security to the United States 
Government against any future refractory course 
that might be pursued on the part of those 
States. The delay about which we hear 
so much complaint from a certain quarter is 
not the fault of Congress, but owing to the 
pertinacity of leading politicians who partici- 

f >ated in the inauguration of the late rebel- 
ion. ‘ 

Sir, they must and will be taught to under¬ 
stand that they are not to dictate as to the plan 
of reconstruction. That work must be left in 
the hands of loyal men, who, in the dark hour 
of our struggle to maintain national existence, 
rallied around the old flag, and those States 
must accept the terms that Congress propose 
or remain without tepresentation, and in the 
mean time be governed in such a way as may 
render proper protection to the inhabitants 
thereof. Mr. Speaker, I will say to the peo¬ 
ple of those States that they need not be de¬ 
luded with the idea that they will get back 
under what is denominated President Johnson’s 
policy, or under any terms more favorable than 
those dictated by Congress, and their abuse of 
this body through certain southern journals 
will not hasten their aggrandizement; and 
again, it is time that they should understand 
that rebels, even whitewashed with pardons, 
are not to be intrusted with the affairs of the 
Government, and so far as this and the next 
Congress are concerned I think I am safe in 
saying that they will find that determination 
carried out. And now, sir, it devolves upon 
us to stand firm upon these great questions, 


and I trust there will be no Republican member 
found to falter. 

The course we laid down at the first session 
of this Congress was submitted to the people, 
who were looking upon our actions with an 
anxious eye, and notwithstanding the fact that 
all the executive patronage was brought to 
bear in order to defeat Republican members 
we were nobly sustained by a grateful and pa¬ 
triotic people and returned here to complete 
the great work submitted to us; and I trust 
our constituents may not be disappointed, and 
that, through the guidance of Him who has 
signally blessed our arms and dispelled the 
dark clouds of treason that were hanging over 
our beloved country, we may be enabled to so 
reconstruct the late rebellious States as to in¬ 
sure peace, security, and stability for genera¬ 
tions to" come, so that this Republic may never 
be distracted by another rebellion. 

And now, Mr. Speaker, in conclusion, I have 
to say that the late rebellion caused the sacri¬ 
fice of too many noble men who fell in defense 
of the Union, and caused too many widows 
and orphans, beside the large expenditure of 
money, to allow rebels to resume seats in the 
councils of the nation or permit the States 
lately in insurrection to assume their former 
position in the Union without an adequate 
guarantee. Had those ten States manifested 
the same disposition as Tennessee they might 
now be in a very different position; but as it is, 
I see no hurry in granting them representation 
until we have more evidence of returned loy¬ 
alty and see a disposition manifested to adopt 
the amendment; and this is the sentiment of 
the loyal people of the country, to which we as 
their Representatives must adhere, and by 
doing so we will foster our free institutions and 
make manifest to the world that a republican 
form of government is not a failure, and it 
will then be a light for the oppressed nations 
of the earth to follow. 


Printed at the Congressional Globe Office. 












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